Wheel



sept. 21, 1943.

A. W. HERRINGTON WHEEL Filed Jan. 29, 1942 llll ""C' Ymy 4 co-pendingapplication ',Serial Patented Sept. 2l, 1943 1.

1 .WHEEL Arthur W. Herrngton, Indianapolis, lind.,v as-jV signortoMarmon'-Herrington Company, Inc.; Indianapolis, lnd., a corporation ofY Indiana Appiiationranury 29, 1942, serialv Nmfizaea'f., f,

,uponx the inner face of the endless track which comprises inwardlyprojecting, Vlaterally spaced .lingers between which the loadcarryingidlers run in .order to be held in proper relation wit the tracklaterally of the track. I

The specific object of my invention is to pro.- vide an improved form ofsuch load-carrying wheels which may be easily produced and which willsubstantially prolong ythe elfective life of the wheel, track, andvehicle as a whole.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an ernbodiment of my inventionwhich has been satisfactorily demonstrated in commercial use.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary radial section of my improved wheel;

Fig. 2 a side elevation on a smaller scale;

Fig. 3 a side elevation on the scale of Fig. 2 of -one of the cushionrings; and

Fig. 4 a side elevation, on the same scale, of one of the wear rings.

In the drawing IIJ indicates the'main body or hub of my improved wheelhaving an internal bore I I for the reception of conventional bearingsI2 b-y means of which it is associated with the axle I3. Main body I isprovided with an external peripheral ring I4, most conveniently at themiddle length of the body I0, thus providing, at each end of said body,a peripheral surface I5 and a nearly radial annular surface I5.

Two identical wear rings are the trackengaging elements. Each of theserings is substantially L-shaped in axial section so as to provide acircumferential Wearing surface 2l, a radial end surface 22, an internalannular wedging surface 23 which is slightly inclined to the axis of thering, and a wedging surface 24 which is slightly inclined from a planenormal to the axis of the wheel. Each of these wear rings is providedwith a series of circumferentially spaced, inwardly projecting lugs 25having a bore 25 parallel with the axis of the ring, and a coaxialcounterbore 2l inwardly from the surface 22. Each of these lugs 25 ispreferably tapered toward its smaller free end and the lengths of theselugs are such that their free endsare brought into contact with eachother when the wear rings are clampedtogether by bolts 50 provided wthnuts or heads 5I lying in the counterbores 21.

Nestable f within Nea-ch wear 2] `and' over main body` I0 is aicushionring` 30 provided .with

a series, of circumferentially spacedztapered. per,-

s'fora'tionsl into eac'heofcwhichpone offthe lugs 25 willv closely fit.lilxte'rnallyfeach cushion ring is provided withsurfaces 132,33,` 34,and formed to lit upon, surfaces-23, 24, I5, and. I1S1r'espectively,ofwear ringz'. and mainbodydar; f u

. The tips :M pfythe. substantially radial' iianges ,10i

of wear rings.. 2.5.arezspaced from the circumference of the mainv bodyI5 and,tips42 ofthe Substantially axially-extending; angespfrwear rings4 2Ilf er@ ,Preferably spaced from eachother. f when. :thesaltsy@reassembled although-these 15 ,r

lattertips .may .be-.extended so as Ito fcontactwhen the parts areassembled.

'I'he cushion rings 30 are so proportioned that they may be slippedreadily upon and from main body I0 and, when the parts are assembled asshown in Fig. 1, the wedging surfaces 32 and 33 and the lugs 25 of thewear rings 20 put the cushion rings under compression so that theannular surfaces 32, 33, 34 and 35 thereof are pressed with thenecessary degree of force upon the contacting surfaces 2 3, 24, I5, andI6 respectively, the spaces between the main body I0 and tips 4D, andbetween the two tips 42, if these do not contact, provide room for theaccompanying distortion of the cushionrings, said rings being formedpreferably of rubber or one of its substitutes.

The amount to which the cushion rings are distorted, and the consequentfrictional contact between the cushion rings, the main body, and thewear rings, may be readily determined by well known means in accordancewith the load to which the structure is to be subjected. The radialheight of ribv I4 is suiciently less than the distance between theperiphery of the main body of hub I5 and the lugs 25 to permit thedesired movement of the wear rings radially of the hub without injuringthat portion of the rubber cushions which lies between the tip of theradial rib I4 and the lugs 25.

I am aware that lcad-carrying wheels for track type vehicles have beenprovided with exposed rubber tires which have directly contacted thetrack structures. In such devices the exposed rubber tires are subjectto rapid destruction by reason of the abrasion due to contact with theinwardly projecting portions of the track structure and every presenttrack waving. Such destruction is avoided in my present construction ofmy wear rings, it is possible, at reasonable exered necessary to holdthe cushion structure in, l

place,

tent.

One of the advantages of my present con struction is that thecushi'orlsoinay befs'osized that they may be readily placed and`replacedfr yet, after placement, they can be subjected to sumcientdistorting stresses to rmly :anchor them on the .main body-:andowithinthe. wear rings so that they. aie capable of. carryingthe requisite load.without .replacement Iand. .Without injury by Contact with thetrackstructure`- The inner e'n'ds v.of the 'cushion rings l3l! are radialsurfaces which abut and. these surfaces are pressed. tightly; together,'by reason ofthe distortionk of the! cushions when -bolts `Sllfaretightened and the innerends ofV `thelugs 25 brought into contact witheach othen IActual contactingof the inner ends of 'thelu'gs 25 whenbolts Ware tightened, while not absolutely-essential, Vits defs-irtable,a's such an arrangement protects the boltsglliagainst shearing and Thetrouble with such a structure has,A i been not only a high initial costbut also tiziay diiculty of replacement of partsy ,when the. cushion hasdeteriorated tov anuncieslrablej eX-, I5,A

` `then'ai'n body and said wear rings, each of said unies the twowearrings so that the cushioning effect of each of the annular cushions uponboth of the wear rings more evenly distributes the load.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wheel comprising, a main body having medial externalcircumferential rib, a pair of mating .wear ,rings each, comprising acircumferenti'al -ilan'ge and anfinwaidly projie'cting radial flangesurrounding said main body with the edges of their circumferentialflanges facing 'each other, each of said wear rings being pro- --videdwith a plurality of circumferentially spaced tubular. lugsthe inner endsof which are abutt'abl'e3i`two` rings fof rubber interposed betweenrings provi'ded with a plurality of circumferenftiallyspaedpeiiforations through which said lugsrare projectible, and clampingmeans passthrou'gh said lugs and rings and holding the inner endsofwm'ating 'lugs'i'n Contact: with each "Othe,the raIda-l dimensions of's'a ma'n body being less than the adjacent -i-ntrnal dimensions 'oftherings'. l

2. AA wheel ofthe c'liifac'Uer-speeied 'in 'claim 1, wherein the innersurfa'c'esof the circumferential Yflanges of. thewear ring-s fare 'conedsubstantially as described'. y

3. iA wheelfof the characteiflspe'oie'd in' claim '1, vWlXeren the'`l1ody"of the aw-l'iee-l fis oppositely coned from lits 'medial 4rib andthe inn'er surfaces offthe circumferential 'and-radial flanges of-"thewear ringare 'coned substantially as de-

